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Harish Bijoor is a Brand-thinker and practitioner operating out of Bengaluru, India. He runs a unique boutique-consulting outfit branded “Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.”, a brand name that has a consulting presence across the markets of Hong Kong, Seattle, London, Istanbul, Dubai and the Indian sub-continent.

Harish has spent his career across the aggressive realms of FMCG, Telecom and Consumer Durables. He is considered a marketing practitioner and thinker who is ahead of the consumer thinking curve, year on year.

Harish is a public speaker who speaks to corporate audiences across the globe in the realm of
motivation, people-management issues, brands, marketing and business at large. He has spoken to corporate audiences across the world for 12,100 hours to date.

Harish teaches at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad & Mohali, in addition to semesters at
overseas Business schools in the US and Europe. He has been teaching at the Indian School of Business for the past 15 years.

Harish has recently published a book titled, “Marketing Trends – Smart Insights into the world of
Indian Business”, a serious book written in a style that is distinctly young and 'MTV-ish'! He is currently involved in his second book on core branding. The book is titled, ”Brand Irrationals: a fundamental journey into brand-think” Harish has simultaneously been Commissioned to write a book on “Customer Service mechanisms”
at play in contemporary marketing contexts.

Harish is actively involved in research relating to Rural Consumer
Behavior, Rural Retail Networks and Trade mechanisms at play. The current research exercise he is involved in spans a 6-year period covering 84,850 consumers across India.

Dr. A. Velumani - Creator and Chief Executive Officer, Thyrocare

A visionary and an able business administrator, Dr.Velumani proves clearly to industry that, “focus gives success”. Born in a small village near Coimbatore, South India, to a landless farmer, today he owns and operates Thyrocare. The chain of diagnostic centres and pathology labs is worth over Rs.2000 crores. Dr.Velumani began as a mathematician and acquired his PhD in Thyroid Biochemistry from BARC/Mumbai University.

As a research scientist and teacher, he worked for 14 years in BARC and later ventured into business. An infecting motivator, he has succeeded in converting educated as employable, graduates as professionals, individuals as entrepreneurs, vendors as partners, family members as wealth creators and of course by his unique way of transforming intimidating problems into opportunities for prosperity.

Mr. Dharmendra Pratap Yadav is Secretary to Government , MSME Department, Government of Tamilnadu .

Tamilnadu accounts for the largest number of MSMEs (15.07 %) in the country with 6.89 lakhs registered MSMEs producing over 8000 varieties of product for a total investment of more than RS 32008 crores. At the national level , the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises play a pivotal role in the overall industrial economy of the country. It contributes 8 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, 45 per cent of the manufactured output and 40 per cent of its exports. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises provide employment to about 60 million persons through 26 million enterprises.

Mr. C.K Kumaravel, Co-founder of Naturals

Destined to be an entrepreneur with a difference, Mr C.K Kumaravel is the co-founder of "Naturals" , India’s No 1 salon chain. Together with his wife Ms.Veena, he has revolutionized the salon and franchising industry with over 550+ salons spread across India. Naturals has created 350 women franchise partners and trained over 8000 staff. Thanks to the 30 lakh customers of Naturals!

A strong believer in Design Thinking as a way of life, Dr. Anbu Rathinavel is currently building the same as the culture in Intellect Design Arena Ltd., where he plays the role of Chief Design Officer. He is also Co-founder & Head, School of Design Thinking, and Head of Training Strategy, Government e-Marketplace.

Dr. Anbu’s focus at School of Design Thinking is on preparing the design mind by shifting their thinking: what is the right question, rather than what is the right answer, moving away from being data driven to story driven, dealing with feelings than facts and wear the empathy hat that an analytics hat. In short, working on Designing The ThinkingTM of the future creative minds across various sectors and entrepreneurs.

He is a certified Executive Coach and coaches senior leaders as part of ISB programs and other corporate initiatives. With his strong research background in Artificial Intelligence, Anbu is passionate about understanding the evolving intricacies of Human Development. He works closely with young adults in helping them understand the emotional aspects of relationship. His latest initiative is the Life Design Lab, helping adults discover their authentic self and create a meaningful journey in their life.

Vinoth is the Founder, CEO & Creative Director of ChuChu TV Studios which owns a family of channels for toddlers in YouTube with millions of subscribers and billions of views. With a flair for music from his young age and with a family background in media, Vinoth and his team produce animated edutainment content for kids aged 0-6 yrs.

Mr. Suresh Thankavel, Founder & CEO , AugRay

Leading business Entrepreneur, Founder, President and CEO. Suresh Thankavel has over 18 years of experience in IT software services and solutions. He founded his first company when he was just 15 years old. Mr Thankavel holds a Masters in computers and has worked for many research organizations. He has also served as a consultant for various IT firms. He has been instrumental in developing successful startups like Wisdom InfoTech and AugRay earning him several growth awards from 'Inc 500' and 'M&A'.

Wisdom InfoTech provides custom software services for public and private organizations; ranging from startups to fortune 100 companies in the USA.

AugRay, the newest multinational subsidiary of Wisdom is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA and has offices in Chennai and Bengaluru, India. AugRay is an Augmented Reality product company creating innovative AR/ VR solutions and is always looking for creative talents.

The feather in his cap comes in the form of 'TaDa Time'- A free Augmented Reality app that allows users to communicate exactly what they're thinking. The multifaceted app prides itself on fostering creativity among users by enabling them to create their very own digital-avatar.

Today, Suresh Thankavel immerses himself in his second startup, 'AugRay' and its 'TaDa Time' app. He firmly believes that he can repeat past successes and thereby, scale new heights.

As a consultant , Raja has been a guide and advisor to CEOs and HR heads of corporate organizations.His unique strength lies in his conceptual frameworks and original models which bring in clarity and positivity to enhance organizational effectiveness. He has supported a wide range of corporates and non corporate organizations as a
consultant,coach & advisor.

Raja has acted in many tamil, telugu,malayalam & hindi films. " Popular as "Kitty" he is a respected character artiste in Indian cinema.

Raja is concerned with socio- civic cultural issues and plays active role in matters concerning common good of the people and towards a better tomorrow.
He is a Co Founder and Director of Talent Maximus India Pvt Ltd , a HR services Organization.

Mr. Aman Munglani, Vice President at Growth Enabler Research

Aman Munglani is a Vice President and team manager at Growth Enabler Research, with global responsibility for Insights and Intelligence. Focusing on disruptive technologies and innovative approaches, his team of analysts cover trends and analysis of the marketplace with respect to technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Fintech, IoT etc. Mr. Munglani’s team of analysts focus on global issues, reporting and advising on disruptive technologies developed by the start up community, publishing research, and advising clients on strategic and tactical advantages related to trends in global markets. Mr. Munglani is based in Bangalore, India.

Prior to joining Growth Enabler, Mr. Munglani held the position of Research Director at Gartner and was a part of the Data Center Systems group. The position entailed in-depth market discussions with the top management of leading IT companies, identifying customer needs, analyzing vendors, assessing technology, and interpreting market trends to support the strategic planning, business development, and marketing requirements of the IT industry globally. I have spent an extensive amount of time advising users of technology on trends, buying patterns and guided them on evaluation criterion’s across various vendors. Mr. Munglani was also the chair for Goa Symposium, Gartner’s signature IT conference for a period of three years from 2014 until 2016 and has also authored a number of documents on Innovation, Cost containment, the evolving start up landscape and has also lead Gartner’s hype cycle document for the Indian market. He was also the global revenue vendor lead for NetApp and HDS and also managed Gartner’s infrastructure forecast for Asia Pacific and EMEA.

Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Munglani spent five years with IDC in India and was based in New Delhi. His responsibilities included research and business development on servers, PCs, handheld devices and storage technologies, among others, that are under the purview of computing hardware. His areas of specialization included servers and enterprise operating systems. He started his career with IDC East and Central Europe, based in Prague. He has authored hardware reports on the Czech, Ukraine, Bulgarian and Czech markets.

I enjoy assessing technology, and interpreting market trends to support strategic planning and business development requirements for the vendor community. I also enjoy helping technology users make sound business and technology decisions.

Rangapriya is an alumini of IIM Bangalore and head the marketing & opertaions advisory at Initium Partners LLP. Rangapriya has over 19 years of senior management experience in Large Accounts Management, Strategic Marketing & Talent mapping for large corporates.

Rangapriya's core competencies include starting new business ventures, strategic marketing, framing new business initiatives, implementing systems, processes and practices for continous improvement and standardization of existing business and creating best practices within business units.

Ms. Kanakadhara Srinivasan, Partner , Initium Partners LLP

Kanakadhara is an experienced financial investment professional with a background in private equity, corporate finance, due diligence, and business turnarounds. She is one of the founding Partnersat Initium Partners LLP, a startup and SME focused advisory firm.

She was formerly part of Deal Advisory at KPMG, having the experience of working across various domains of transactions including acquisitions, carve-outs, joint ventures, and private equity investments. She has been involved in over 50+ transactions spanning across several geographies including India, Nigeria, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, and Middle East.

She is a Chartered Accountant and has a Masters degree in Accounting and Finance from University of Manchester.

Director, Notion Press Media Private Limited - Notion Press is the first and the largest self-publishing platform in Indiaenabling authors to publish, promote and sell print books as well as eBooks worldwide.

Mr. Z Mohammad Nassar, Co-founder and Director of E2E

Z Mohamed Nassar is the Co-founder and Director of E2E – Excite Marketing and Training Services that provides business consultancy on growth strategies and building world class systems.

His clients have ranged from small entrepreneurial organizations to international corporations. Nassar has assisted over 150 clients globally in diverse sectors. Many of his strategies are focused on helping companies to communicate effectively to its stake holders using time tested and proven methods.

Mr. Shyam Sekar S, Chief Mentor and Strategist at Startup Xperts

Shyam Sekar, a catalyst leader with over 22 years of experience is the Chief Mentor and Strategist at Startup Xperts, a business growth consulting firm aimed at supporting Startups and corporate, in India and abroad.
Aim is to turn ideas and vision, into reality through smart execution, and build the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He accelerates the revenue growth of startups and other enterprises. Startup Xperts has been featured under the ‘Emerging Company of the Year’ category, in the Silicon India Entrepreneur Year Book 2014.

Shyam has been featured in many reputed magazines like The CEO Magazine, Startup 360, Silicon India, and also in newspapers/dailies including The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle and also was interviewed by Puthiya Thalaimurai too, during the recent budget features.

An Industrial engineer from Virginia Tech specializing in Human Factors, he has consulted on User Experience and Design projects across the globe for Best Buy, Macys, Standard Bank, Caterpillar, Vodafone, Motorola etc. Through Stray Factory an entertainment company which he founded in 2010 his plays have been performed at festivals in South Africa, USA, Singapore, Malaysia and Sydney. He was awarded the 'Emerging Artist Award' at the Short and Sweet Festival in Los Angeles last year. In 2014 he started Rascalas a Youtube Channel for South Indian content and created 'Black Sheep' one of South India's first Web Series on the channel. Finding a point of convergence between Content and User Experience he recently started his journey as a Producer. Marrying his interests in Technology, Arts and Business, now, he engineers experiences on stage, digital and film at Stray Factory.

Mathivanan believes Stories and experiences are the greatest tool we have to help people understand people and themselves.

Mr.Shyam has around 30 years of experience in Sales & Marketing including 27 years of leading teams at various levels. His experience ranges from Direct Marketing to Media broadcasting. His stints includes Eureka Forbes, Times Of India , Puthiya Thalaimurai TV etc and his own venture called Cornerstone.

He has been a people’s leader, excelling in team & time management. He enjoys organizing events and leading from the front. He is pious and deep rooted in values

He has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Loyola College, Master’s in Marketing Management, Master’s in Christian studies and currently pursuing his Doctorate in Youth & Digital Media.

Ms. Priya Ramesh is a Leadership Coach and, Co Founder of Orenda

Ms. Priya Ramesh is a Leadership Coach and, Co Founder of Orenda - Centre for Leadership Excellence, an Organisation that leads, empowers and enables Leaders towards Excellence. With over 20 years of experience in People Empowerment space, she combines her academic knowledge and practice as an Executive Coach, Counseling Psychologist and a Facilitator to drive individual excellence . A Professional Certified Coach, credentialled by the International Coach Federation (ICF) and Senior Practitioner credentialled by European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) supported by a Masters in Applied Psychology, her work covers areas of Emotional Intelligence , Authenticity @ Work, Navigating the VUCA world, Work Life Integration and Personal Power.

Priya is a Speaker, Mentor and an Artiste.

Her Core Philosophy is “Power is Inherent in All”- Every Individual is intrinsically empowered, sometimes all it takes is a nudge for it to manifest.

Mr. V.Umanath – The Editor-in-Chief of TVNEWS4U.COM

The Editor-in-Chief of TVNEWS4U.COM is the driving force behind the most successful and disruptive digital trade magazine that caters to Media, Broadcast, Advertising, Brands and Digital Professionals across India and APAC.

His vision and passion towards this medium has transformed the platform in to one of most happening and fastest growing portal that disseminates credible industry information. He comes with two decades of Media exposure through his association with prominent National and International Media Houses. His acumen inthe areas of Media Sales, Content Creation, Marketing, Acquisition and Syndication, Knowledge on Industry trends and practices, Well Networked Relationship with leaders across all leading Broadcast and Media Networkacts as a catalyst for his present Assignment.

His conviction is to make TVNEWS4U.COM, a firebrand with one stop solution for all the queries related to Indian Media industry, in matter of few years and mark its presence felt across every cubicles in the Media Broadcast World.

Ms. Ranjitha Gunasekaran is Assistant Resident Editor of Tamil Nadu at The New Indian Express

Ranjitha Gunasekaran is Assistant Resident Editor of Tamil Nadu at The New Indian Express. Previously she was Assistant Resident Editor for Telangana, in charge of the editions in that state. She has covered gender, sexual violence, mental health and development. She regularly contributes editorials and other opinion pieces. Her interests include dogs and food. She has an MPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge.

Narendran is one of the emerging new breed of brand consultants who call themselves as brand doctors. As a brand doctor, his niche is to work on ailing brands, understand the reasons why they have gone astray and put them back on a healthy growth path.

Throughout his corporate career he has been successful in re-positioning many a brand and giving them a new life. A classical marketeer early in his career, Narendran has worked in companies such as Henkel, Diageo, Rediff.com and Aptech, handling brands as diversified as detergent powders to liquor brands and internet portals to some of the biggest retail education brands. Grained in classical brand strategy, Narendran views new media not as another marketing tool but as a huge social leveler for emerging brands.

Narendran's recently published book "Amongst Monkeys – A Frank Story from IIM-A" is just as witty, absorbing and practical as is his approach to brand consulting. He can be found on https://in.linkedin.com/in/freenaren

About the talk

the talk is a new media and thought leadership platform. It is a platform across genres and formats to express fresh thoughts and ideas in shaping up a new perspective on any issue that we are constantly searching for right answers.